Credit institutes

[Cunner]

Hi folks out there,

as for I will start studying in Tokyo this september as an exchange student I will need a bank account.

Does anyone have good or bad experiences with special institutes? Especially as a student.
I would need a credit institute where one can expect the clarks to speak or at least understand (my) English, and it would be great if international transfers would be available at reasonable cost. Furthermore student conditions (which in Europe means "free") would be very appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Blah Pete]

I use Citibank. They don't have a lot of branches outside of major cities but they have agreements to use ATMs of other banks. I suppose some of the clerks speak English (never tried it), but they do have phone banking in English. They also have online banking. You can transfer for free and not pay fees as long as you keep a minmum balance (which may be a litle high for the average student).
if you have a Citibank account at home you should bring the paperwork to set up a bank transfer and open a new local account when you get here. Or, you could use your overseas Citibank card if you are close to a branch and have someone at home top up your account balance.

[emperor]

when I was an exchange student: our univ. set us up with Sumitomo bank a/c's (it was manditory for some reason & i never lodged more than Y1000 there) - all year i kept my money back home and tended to draw larger amounts when the exchange rate turned favourable.

it was the citibank ATMs in Ikebukuro that I used.

if you did set up a bank a/c there and were living in or near a major city - Citibank would be the one to go for.

[nullpointer]

Forget citibank or sumitomo. Open an account in Shinsei bank. The people at a Shinsei financial center do speak a bit of english and opening an account usually takes around 10 minutes. In fact you can open an account without ever visiting the bank. There is no minimum balance requirement, full service in english through their website (only bank in japan which offers this), including bank transfers. 5 times a month bank transfers are free and the best part is, you can use any ATM to withdraw money and there are no withdrawl charges, Any other bank would charge you 105 or 210 yen to withdraw money outside the regular hours or from another bank's ATM but shinsei allows you to do it for free. I have a citibank as well as shinsei account but hardly ever use citibank anymore.

[nullpointer]

Forgot to mention one thing, you can use your shinsei cash card to withdraw money anywhere in the world, and they do not charge any withdrawl fee.

[Taro Toporific]

I would need a credit institute where one can expect the clarks to speak or at least understand (my) English, and it would be great if international transfers would be available at reasonable cost. Furthermore student conditions (which in Europe means "free") would be very.

"Free" international money transfers in Japan?! Not hardly.

Credit unions ("institutes") in Japan don't offer any particular advantages for students (or regular folks either). They are meant for employees to use. There was a big crackdown on Korean credit unions in Japan and now specialized credit unions for foreigners are looked at by police with much concern.

As other have said Citibank or Shinsei are good choices. I find the Japanese Post Office banking services are most convenient and for smaller international money transfers the Post Office is often the cheapest. The Post Office ATM services accept foreign credit cards and have much longer hours than most (regular banks in Japan close their ATMs early every day). As far as using English for banking, if you show up speaking English, most banks and Post Offices will drag some employee out who speaks engrish.

[emperor]

oh yeah - and like Taro said - the post office too.
theyre everywhere and all have ATMs afaik.
I dont remember what the charges were though - if there were any.

anyone know if there are there any up&coming online banks or increased usage of such?

[FG Lurker]

As already said by others:

Shinsei is the best by far, followed by Citibank. Citibank charges 2000yen a month if you don't keep their minimum balance though and Shinsei does not. Shinsei's homepage is also better than Citibank's, IMO.

The Post Office is another good option and if you open your account at a major office there will be English speakers on staff. Small local branches will almost certainly have no one who speaks English though. I think post office ATMs are also J/E bilingual now.

Cheapest and easiest way to do electronic wires out of Japan is via Lloyds Bank:
https://www.golloyds.com/en/

[Greji]

As already said by others:

Shinsei is the best by far, followed by Citibank. Citibank charges 2000yen a month if you don't keep their minimum balance though and Shinsei does not. Shinsei's homepage is also better than Citibank's, IMO.

Shinsei is all around Roppongi Hills but the only thing I have against them is they don't recognize a lot of different cash cards for withdrawals. I have not used them beyond that, so really can't comment as to whether or not they are better than Citibank.

I used Citibank for when my daughter left for school in the States. I opened an account with two cards one for her and one for me and for three years she used that account in the states while I fed it from here in J-land. She being a typical HS teenager recognizes an account balance as the amount she should withdraw when ever she goes to the ATM, so I had to force feed her at intervals, which could be a bit inconvenient. Where I don't seen Shinsei in a lot of places outside of downtown Tokyo, with my Citibank account, besides the bank, I could go to any Post Office and prime the account for my daughter from the Post Office ATM. Vastly more benri then so many other ways I have tried and/or used in the past.

[Cunner]

"Free" international money transfers in Japan?! Not hardly.

I don't expect any Credit institute around the world to offer free international transfers . As I said, those should be at a reasonable cost. Only liky monthly account payments or normal withdrawals should be free.

Thanks to all of you for your replies. As for I don't like Citybank for no particular reason I think Shinsei will make it. Must have a look around when I'll be there.

Shinsei is all around Roppongi Hills

Does that mean they're only in Roppongi? Because I will live quite a bit away from that...

[FG Lurker]

About the only thing as common as post offices is 7-11... And you can use a Shinsei card to withdraw or deposit funds (for free) at any 7-11 ATM, 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Only problem is they limit you to 500,000yen at a time so it can be annoying for larger withdrawls or deposits. Otherwise it works very well.

[Cunner]

Great, thanks a lot.
I think I will not have trouble with a limitation on withdrawal amounts .